Diel oviposition and fecundity of Anopheles oswaldoi in Trinidad, West Indies

ABSTRACT

The diel oviposition periodicity of wild-caught Anopheles oswaldoi collected from the forest-ecotone habitat of Valencia, Trinidad, was studied in the laboratory by recording the performance of of egg-laying individuals and a colony at 2-h intervals. Oviposition was almost exclusively nocturnal, with 95.3 percent of eggs and 91.3 percent of oviposition occurences being observed during the scotophase. During the rest of the day, only 4.7 percent of eggs (8.7 percent occurences) were recorded after dawn (0600-0800 h). Wild-caught females engorged on human blood under laboratory conditions matured, on average, 61.1 +/- 32.3 follicles (range 56-135). Ranges of 50-69, 70-89, 90-109, and >110 follicles were matured by 12, 4, 4, and 3 gravid females, respectively. These findings provide vector operators with a window of time to maximize the impact of insecticides on An. oswaldoi populations (AU)